In the past few days, reporters have conducted extensive interviews with readers' questions.
Ji wrote the chapter of Chu.
Chu was a big country in the south of China in the pre-Qin period, which lasted more than 800 years from its founding to its demise. It was one of the longest vassal states in ancient China.
Liu Yutang, vice president of Hubei Academy of Social Sciences and an expert on Chu culture, believes that the most glorious history of Chu occurred in Jianghan Plain, which has been recognized by historians. Before the Qin Dynasty and Bai Qi captured Ying Capital, Jianghan Plain was the hinterland of Chu in its heyday.
Chu Zhuangwang, who was "silent for three years and made a blockbuster" and "Bingzhou for twenty-six years and opened up three thousand miles", made Chu one of the five tyrants in the Spring and Autumn Period. Chu destroyed nearly 60 small countries and basically unified the southern part of China, ranking first among all countries in terms of area, population and number of armor. When Qin rose in the pass, Chu and Qin became two great powers.
At its peak, the Chu State covered an area of nearly one million square kilometers and had a population of about five million, accounting for a quarter of the total population of China during the Warring States Period. The capital of Chu is full of traffic and people come and go. In the history of China, a number of famous figures emerged in Chu State: Laozi of Taoism, Xu Xing, an agronomist, Tang Mei, an astronomer, Nangong, Zhong Ziqi, a musician, Qu Yuan, Song Yu and so on.
Textile processing in Chu is very developed. Silk fabrics unearthed near Jinan city, whether clothes or ribbons, are as thin as cicada wings and as light as smoke, and the latitude and longitude are per square centimeter 140, even greater than the density of parachutes today.
Liu Yutang believes that the history known by ordinary people is often the most brilliant page, and it is understandable that they set the history of Chu in Jianghan Plain and Jingzhou.
However, history is not the same as feeling after all, and Jinan, the capital of Chu, is only a part of its history of more than 800 years. The history of this stage is said to be more than 400 years, from the early and middle Spring and Autumn Period to the middle and late Warring States Period. The other is more than 200 years, from the late Spring and Autumn Period to the middle and late Warring States Period.
Looking for the trace of Chu "capital" in Historical Records
Where did Chu State originate? Liu Yutang believes that according to the literature, Zhu Rong, the ancestor of Chu people, came from the north, and Zhu Rong tribe was distributed in the south of Shang Dynasty (now Xinzheng, Henan). It is said that Zhu Rong was the fire officer of the ancient emperor Gao Xin, who was in charge of sky fire and ground fire.
Sima Qian in the Western Han Dynasty recorded in Historical Records of the Chu Family: "Xiong Yi was the king, improved his civil and military skills, and then succeeded to the throne, while Xiong Yi was made a Chu, given a viscount, and lived in Danyang." This record shows that at the end of Shang Dynasty and the beginning of Zhou Dynasty, at the end of1BC or at the beginning of1BC, a branch of Zhu Rong's descendants migrated from the north to Danyang. This is the first time that Chu people entered Hubei from the Central Plains, and it is also the first time that Chu was officially recognized by the Zhou royal family.
Where is Danyang, the capital of Chu State? Sima Qian's record left a mystery through the ages.
Liu Yutang thinks that "Danyang" is located at the intersection of fresh water and Xishui, so it is called Danyang because it is located in the north of fresh water. According to Dr. Wang Hongxing, director of the Provincial Institute of Archaeology, some people think that Danyang is somewhere in the southeast of Shaanxi, some people think that it is gathered in Danyang, zhijiang city, Hubei, some people think that it is in Danyang City, Zigui County, Hubei Province, and some people think that it is in Yang Xiaodan, dangtu county, Anhui Province. However, most of these statements lack archaeological proof. Wang Hongxing tends to think that the capital of Chu State is "Danyang City", probably in the flooded area of Danjiangkou Reservoir. More and more archaeological discoveries provide evidence for this view.
Gao Chongwen, dean of Peking University Institute of Archaeology and Culture and doctoral supervisor, pointed out that the earliest Chu cultural sites around Danjiangkou Reservoir were Zhenwushan Site in Xiangfan and Zhujiatai Site in Danjiangkou, both of which unearthed Tao Ge, a typical Chu stone pillar in the middle and late Western Zhou Dynasty. 1996, Chu-style pottery was also found in Gongjiawan site in Danfeng County, Shaanxi Province in the upper reaches of Danjiang River. This shows that the earliest Chu culture was distributed in the middle reaches of Danjiang River to Hanshui River.
According to the latest field investigation by the provincial archaeological department, there are more than 1000 Chu tombs in Danjiangkou Reservoir alone in Hubei Province. In the second half of this year, field archaeology along the middle route of South-to-North Water Transfer Project will be launched soon. The eternal mystery of "Where is Danyang, the capital of Chu" is expected to be solved with the deepening of archaeological work.
Danjiangkou reservoir area used to be the place where boats met.
Today, it seems that Danjiangkou reservoir area, which is remote and relatively backward in economy, will be the capital of Chu State? Many readers doubt this view.
Wang Hongxing, director of the Provincial Institute of Archaeology, said that in ancient times, the culture in Danjiangkou reservoir area was quite developed. From the 20th century BC to the 20th century A.D. 10, the political center of China has always been located in the Guanzhong and Luo Yi areas with Xi and Luoyang as the centers, and the connection between this area and East China and South China largely depends on Hanshui and Danjiang. In the ancient society dominated by water transportation, Danjiang area enjoys the convenience of geographical location, and the land can make use of the famous "corridor with dates". At that time, the geographical position of Danjiang area was as important as that of Wuhan, a thoroughfare of nine provinces today.
Danjiangkou Reservoir Area has discovered and excavated a series of cultural relics, such as the "Fairy Cloud" in the Paleolithic Age, more than 0/000 Chu tombs in/kloc during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the family cemetery of Lee Tae, the son of Li Shimin of Emperor Taizong, the Taoist complex of Wudang Mountain listed as a world cultural heritage, and the largest Xuegong Yunxian Palace in Hubei Province, which proves that it was once one of the cradles of ancient culture in China.
Gao Chongwen pointed out that Chu's development route is from Danjiang to the middle reaches of Hanshui River, and then to Jianghan Plain. It is not difficult to find that the capital of Chu moved from Danyang City. Although Jinan's later reputation overshadowed Danyang's, it is still necessary to look for the footprints of Chu ancestors from Danyang.
Wu, deputy director of the Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau and director of the Cultural Protection Office of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, said in an interview yesterday that the middle route project of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project will be completed in 2008 and the submerged area of Danjiangkou Reservoir will be further expanded. This means that precious cultural relics including a large number of Chu tombs will be permanently submerged. The construction of the project makes it urgent to rescue and protect the cultural relics in the flooded area of Danjiangkou Reservoir, and the time left by the engineering department for cultural relics protection is only four years. Comparatively speaking, the total amount and importance of the historical and cultural heritage of Danjiangkou Reservoir far exceeds that of the Three Gorges Project, and the time for excavating cultural relics is almost halved.
In Wu Shuo, once the funds of the engineering department are in place, the Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau will use the national archaeological strength to advance into Danjiangkou Reservoir Area, and use modern exploration technologies such as remote sensing and geophysical exploration to understand the changes of ancient society and uncover the mystery of Chu capital. In order to prevent it from being damaged in the project, individual construction sites are prepared to pay in advance.